Published: November 04, 2009 09:41 pm         

Church sale to fight poverty

TERRE HAUTE — A Terre Haute church is offering unique, international products with the goal of helping eliminate poverty around the world.

“This is really an outreach project,” said Mary Jo Brown, chief organizer of the Terre Haute Central Christian Church’s SERRV International Gift Shop. “Our whole mission is to reach out and help those who are in need.”

Central Christian Church, which is just east of Highland Lawn Cemetery at 4950 E. Wabash Ave., is hosting a SERRV International Gift Shop from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today and next Thursday. The shop also will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. the next two Saturdays and from noon to 3 p.m. the next two Sundays.

“These would be ideal for youngsters,” Brown said while holding some small and colorful wooden nativity scene figures handmade in Peru. The shop also includes Christmas angels made in the Philippines, a cat lantern made in Bangladesh, a Nepalese table scarf, olive wood crosses made in the West Bank, baskets from Uganda and Vietnam, jewelry from Kenya and many other international items.

“We have things from all over the world here,” Brown said.

Most items cost less than $20. The gift shop also will offer cakes and Fair Trade regular and decaf coffee by the cup, organizers said. Coffee will cost $1 per cup.

SERRV is a not-for-profit organization that works with “thousands of small-scale artisans and farmers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and other developing regions of the world by marketing their handcrafts and foods,” according to the SERRV Web site. “We strive to ensure that all of our partners are making a living wage,” the Web site states.

The items for sale at the SERRV site at Central Christian Church include the names and stories of the artisans who made them, Brown noted. Many of the items are made in cooperative groups, she said. Food items for sale include “Sarah’s Spicy Split Pea Soup Mix” and “Toni’s 10 Bean Soup Mix,” made in the United States. Coffee from Mexico and organic tea also will be for sale.

“Fair Trade allows people to earn a decent wage,” Brown said. The Central Christian Church Christian Women’s Fellowship groups, which are primarily organizing the sales, will use any proceeds from the gift sales for community projects, she said.

“These things are really inexpensive,” said Nancy Troyer, who is also helping organize the gift sales. There is “no middleman,” which allows even one-of-a-kind, hand-made items to sell at relatively low prices, Brown added.

“Our group is always doing projects in the community,” Brown said of the Christian Women’s’ Fellowship group. Trying to help people in poor parts of the world through the SERRV Gift Shop is just one more way of trying to make a difference, she said. “It’s how we can reach out and show God’s love.”

Visit www.serrv.org for more information on SERRV.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.